Those Time Gone By
by Worlds of Reality
Summary: Matt and Sora get married. The next day Tai disappears, leaving only a note to Kari behind.  Seven years later both worlds are under threat, and only all TWELVE digidestined can stop it. In desperation, they search the globe, for their missing friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Digimon: Those Times Gone By**

**Chapter One**

The champagne flowed freely. The food was eaten in-between snatches of conversation. Everyone was dressed up smartly, although the digimon looked rather uncomfortable in their fancy clothing.

However all the fancy dress up in the room paled in comparison to that of the bride and groom. Matt laughed with everyone else, dressed however in a sleek black suit. The white dress shirt was spotless. And the black bowtie practically shone. Stitched beautiful in blue, along the cuffs of the black blazer he wore, was the Crest of Friendship.

Sora radiated light like a lantern in the white gown she wore. Sleeveless two straps ran over her shoulders, holding the dress to her chest. The hem of the gown reached to around her ankles, and trailed behind her slightly. Stitched in red, underneath the left strap, was the Crest of Love.

The wedding guests included all of the digidestined, their digimon partners, and their parents. After the wedding had finished everyone had congratulated the happy couple and now they were simply sitting, talking, laughing.

Biyomon looked at her dress and dusted it down slightly. All of the digimon's formalwear had been designed by Biyomon. The bid digimon's dress was long and red, and had red feathers lining it everywhere.

An elbow nudged her gently. She looked. Agumon was looking at her, curiosity in his eyes.

"_Why_?" he pined. "Why do I have to wear… to wear _this_?"

Biyomon actually couldn't blame Agumon for the question. The tuxedo he wore was definitely not her best work. The trousers and blazer were bright orange as was the bowtie he wore. The shirt underneath was a pale yellow and Agumon looked _extremely_ uncomfortable in the black shoes he was forced to wear.

"Why couldn't I wear something a little more like Tai's?" asked the dinosaur. Biyomon 'hmmmed'.

"I must admit that I made a slight error of judgement when I made that tux," muttered Biyomon.

"_Slight_!" cried Agumon. "This suit is god awful!"

"I think you look pretty good in that Agumon," Palmon said from beside him. The plant was wearing a green blouse and trousers to match, but the blouse was decorated with different types of flowers and a few leaves.

"Shuttup," snapped Agumon. "I can't wait to get home and rip this into a thousand pieces!"

"I hardly think that's necessary Agumon," Biyomon said aghast.

"He's teasing Biyomon," said Palmon, tracing a vine over Agumon's shoulder. The dinosaur quickly scooted his stool sideways slightly.

"I get the feeling Palmon like you," Biyomon teased.

"Oh you think?" Agumon said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

A tap on his shoulder alerted Agumon to someone standing behind him. He looked up and saw his partner bending over behind him.

"I gotta' take off buddy," he said smiling. "Unavoidable I'm afraid. You'll be okay on your own for a while?"

Agumon rolled his eyes.

"What am I to you Tai four?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

He straightened up and walked over to Sora and Matt.

"I gotta' leave you two ok?" Tai said. "I would appreciate it if you saved me a slice of that cake ok?"

Sora pouted. Clearly she had had one glass too many.

"Awww, come on stay," she said, words slurred slightly. She hiccupped before she continued. "The party's just begun."

Matt, completely sober, nodded in recognition.

"Ok buddy we'll keep you a piece."

"Agumon might need a place to crash this one could go on all night," Tai said. Matt shrugged.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks buddy."

Tai smiled and walked away, taking quick strides towards the door. He pushed it open, and left.

_*The following morning*_

Kari yawned wide and opened her eyes. She saw her own ceiling above her. She smiled and slipped out of bed, pulling a dressing gown out from her wardrobe and slipping it on.

She yawned again and began to make herself a cup of coffee. As she began to take the first sips of the hot concoction, she noticed something lying at the foot of the front door.

She set the mug down and picked up the envelopes. The first one was slim, clearly a letter. The other was bulkier, designed for transporting packages. They were both addressed to her, but the slim one read 'Open me first.'

She tore it open and pulled out the sheet of paper. She folded it open and looked at it. She immediately recognised her brother's handwriting.

'_My dearest sister,_

_ You might recall that yesterday during the wedding reception I left suddenly. What I said was true. It was an unavoidable meeting with an important client. But sweet sister it breaks my heart to tell you that that was the last time you should ever see me._

_I'm sure I need not explain to you about how I feel on the engagement of Matt and Sora. But I cannot put my own happiness before Sora's. If Matt is what makes her happy then who am I to stand in her way, and riddle her life with indecision. Make up some story for my absence. Make sure Agumon is taken good care of. _

_I'm leaving Kari. Simple as that. My happiness is never to be found here. As you read this I will probably already be on a plane taking me out of Japan. And if you need further confirmation that this is goodbye you may open the second envelope now._

_ Your loving brother, Taichi Kamiya'_

Kari frantically tore open the second letter, tears stinging her eyes. She tipped out the contents on the desk top and wailed with despair. Two objects had slid out. Tai's D-Terminal and digivice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Digimon: Those Times Gone By**

**Chapter Two**

_**Seven Years Later**_

Sora sat at her desk writing a few checks. Biyomon was drawing on the floor, designing a new line of dresses. A knock on the door brought Sora's attention from the bills she was paying.

Kari stood in the doorway, smiling slightly.

"'Thought you'd be here," she said smiling. She walked over to the desk and passed Sora a small wrapped parcel. "Happy birthday Sor'."

Sora smiled and stood up.

"Kari," she said smiling, putting her arms around the other girl's neck. "You didn't have to get me anything."

She felt Kari smile into her neck.

"T.K. told me the news and well… I'd feel terrible if I didn't get you anything."

Sora pulled back and smiled. Kari tried smiling, but failed.

"Seven years of marriage and he decides to break it off a week before your birthday? I just couldn't not get you anything."

Sora smiled.

"The divorce won't be finalised 'til next month and you know that as well as I do."

"Still you're like a sister to me, so I got you this."

Sora sighed and took the package. It was small, thin and square shaped. She could already guess what it was, as she unwrapped the paper.

"Kari," she said smiling. It was a CD, the latest album of her favourite band, beside Matt's; _The Blazing Wolves_.

"I knew you'd like it," she said smiling. "Everyone I asked said that what Sora likes most for her birthday is the latest music from _Those Times Gone By_. It's got a special bonus track too! I had to pay ten dollars more for it, but you've got their original masterpiece as well!"

Sora smiled. Kari was so affectionate. So caring. And reminded Sora so much of Tai. Sora smiled again, tears filming her eyes, and then she broke down. Kari was instantly at her side, Biyomon standing by her partner's knee.

"Sora what's wrong?" Kari asked. "Is it about the divorce?"

Sora raised a hand to her face turning her head into Kari's neck, sobs wracking her chest. Biyomon looked at Kari.

"It's not the divorce," Biyomon said. "She just wants a friend at the moment."

Kari frowned.

"But she's got us?"

Biyomon shook her head, as Sora recomposed herself.

"I guess I'm just missing Tai," she said sniffling.

The words hit Kari like a physical blow. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she remained composed.

"I know," she whispered. "I do too…"

*_Elsewhere*_

Matt changed the pitch of his guitar glumly. He sat in his new apartment, surrounded by cardboard boxes. It had been bad enough that the marriage had ended, but even though he had suggested a divorce, _he_ was the one forced to move home.

It hadn't been difficult being as famous as he was to get a new place, but his pride had taken a severe wounding. He played a few notes, not really paying attention, but soon found he was subconsciously playing his favourite song. He shrugged and decided to go with it.

"_I'm gonna change my life for fortune and fame, I'd even cut my hair and change my name_," he sang softly. "_'Cuz we all just wanna be big rock stars, and live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars. The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap, and we'll stay skinny 'cuz we just won't eat. And we'll, hang out in the coolest bars, in the VIP with the movie stars. Every good gold digger's gonna wind up their, every playboy bunny with the bleached blonde hair. Hey, hey I wanna be a rock star._"

It wasn't what _he'd_ done to get this famous, but other people did just that sort of thing. Or they would if they could. Some had the talent, others didn't. He had the natural talent and had made his claim to fame using natural skill. No cutting of the hair, no changing of the name.

Still he wasn't entirely happy. He looked at a CD he had brought from the apartment he had shared with Sora. It was an old album of _Those Days Gone By_. The lead singer of the band, Daxson Smith, was at the top of his game. He was happy, he was rich and he was an international seller.

Matt snorted at the comparison to himself. He may still be rich and an international seller, but he was miserable. He was on his own, he was leaving his wife and most of all, was missing his best friend.

Gabumon poked his head up from in the middle of a square of empty boxes. Matt looked at him and smiled disapprovingly.

"Gabumon did you build a den?" asked Matt chuckling.

The digimon looked around him and smiled.

"Maybe."

_*Elsewhere*_

Mist curled around his feet. He opened his eyes for the first time. The world was bright. He hissed and shielded his eyes. This place was strange to him. He curled his hand into a fist.

This world he did not understand, so he would shape it until he did.

_**To be continued…**_

**Ok, when Gabumon builds that den, yeah it's a Friends quote so don't grill me on that!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Digimon: Those Times Gone By**

**Chapter Three**

Sora sat bolt upright, waking from a nightmare. Her eyes were wide and sweat trickled down her forehead. She looked beside her to where the clock sat. The red LED lights read twenty past three in the morning. Sora sighed and flopped back down.

She closed her eyes, trying to fall back to sleep, but flashes of her nightmare kept flickering through her mind. She sighed again and sat up, slipping out of bed. She pulled a dressing gown on and walked out of the bedroom.

Rubbing her eyes she padded into the kitchen and pulled a glass out of the cupboards, filling it with water from the taps. She drank deeply from the cup.

After pulling it from her lips, she glanced at the still plastic wrapped CD Kari had given her that afternoon. She picked it up with one hand, setting the cup down with the other.

After a quick debate she walked back into her bedroom and put the CD on her bedside table next to the CD player. She then padded out to the living room and sat down, turning the TV on. She flicked through the channels, turning down the volume slightly.

She finally came to the end of an old movie. The credits were rolling up the screen, she was about to flick channels when she saw the 'Coming up…' screen slide across. It showed a small clip from an interview with _Those Times Gone By_. Sora got into a comfortable position. She had a feeling she was going to be here for a while.

She sat for a few minutes watching random adverts flash up one after another. She waited with anticipation for the interview to start. She had never seen Daxson Smith, not even on TV. She smiled as she wondered about the man that went with that voice.

She rolled her eyes at the opening, a voice over of how _Those Times Gone By_ had risen to their level of international stardom. She knew the basics, but some of the stuff made her eyes widen. Then the screen faded to be replaced with a comfortable studio set.

In a single armchair sat the interviewer, but on a long, lime green couch sat four languid looking men. However her eyes were instantly drawn to the man sitting furthest away from the interviewer. He was tall, tanned and looked completely bored. His head rested on one of his hands, and his fingers played with his light blonde hair. Said hair was cut short but was still long enough for him to gel it into spikes. Even though he was indoors he wore a pair of black, metal rimmed sunglasses that shielded his eyes.

Sora was rooted to the spot. She was no longer listening to the questions or the responses as the man she was looking at, the man she was sure was named Daxson Smith, was the same one she had seen in her dream.

_The dark silhouettes of high skyscrapers blocked out the light of the stars and the moon. She was looking on from above however and she saw Matt and MetalGarurumon standing side-by-side. Facing them was a tall digimon she recognised._

_Piedmon._

_Tall, pale skinned and dressed in red waistcoat and green pantaloons. The yellow boots nearly reached his knees. His white gloves looked as if they were housing animalistic claws. The mask he wore was black on one side and white on the other, and behind his head sprouted a column of orange and yellow hair. Strapped to his back was a set of four sheaths for his four swords._

_Standing in between Matt and Piedmon was the man that Sora had just seen on the television._

_His hair was longer and clearly un-styled and it seemed to be darker, streaks of brown running through the blonde. She supposed highlights. His face and arms were coated in dust and blood. A long slit ran up his right arm, and he held his left hand to it. The left lens of his sunglasses was smashed in, revealing the eye he was screwing up, and the blood on the face behind._

_Piedmon raised his sword, laughing as he did so, crying out an attack. Matt ran forward to intercept, but the bloodied Daxson Smith pushed him back with his left hand, letting go of his injured arm, causing him to hiss in pain, just as Piedmon began to complete his attack._

Sora snapped her eyes open, not wanting to relive in detail the vivid darkness of that horrific dream. She had woken before she had seen the conclusion but she could guess.

But what terrified Sora was the possibility that this might not have been just a dream. She was terrified that she might have been given a slight insight into the future. But what could that actually mean? Evil digimon from her past would somehow enter the real world?

Did that mean the digital world was in danger? And if that was true, did that mean Earth would get caught in the cross-fires? And how did Daxson Smith get involved?

So many questions with so few answers. It was at times like this that she missed Matt's arms around her as she wept, his comforting words whispered in her ears.

_*Elsewhere*_

Daxson Smith waved to the crowd as he backed off stage his usual fake smile plastered across his face. The cheers for the encore almost deafening. However how much he itched to play them one last song, Daxson had leant that you should always leave the crowd wanting more. That increased sales and popularity.

As soon as he got off stage his smile fell. He lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes, dislodging sleep. He yawned and let the glasses fall back over his eyes.

"I need some z's," he muttered. Steve Benetton, lead guitar, looked up at the lagging vocals of their band.

"You're not the only one dude," Steve muttered, nearly managing to stifle a yawn. "But what you need at the moment is not sleep. You need a beer."

Daxson rolled his eyes as he slipped into the limo after Steve. "I'm not going to fall for that again Steve. Remember what happened last time?"

"I sure do," Darren Walker (drums) said, as Steve through him a can of 'the good stuff'.

"Steve's right though Dax," Kieran Chase (bass guitar) stated, popping the top of his own can of beer. "You haven't got properly wasted since our first hit."

"And for good reason," Daxson replied coldly, unscrewing the lid off of a bottle of Pepsi. "It cost us a thousand dollars after the damage I did."

"Yeah but it worth it to see you let loose for once!" Steve cried. The others joined in, in agreement.

"Seriously Dax! Thinks of all the babes that're after you!" Kieran blurted. "You're a chick magnet and you're turning down all the hotties! What's wrong with you man?"

"They all like me for my looks," Daxson replied quietly. "I want someone who likes me for being me."

"Your loss Dax," Darren muttered before tilting his head back and downing the rest of his beer.

Daxson leaned forward and pressed a button on the CD player. Linkin Park began to pound from the stereo. He slumped back in his seat and took a sip from his drink. He looked out of the car's window.

'Something out there is wrong' he thought to himself.

_*Elsewhere*_

_Shadows curled around his feet as he strode across the ground. The digimon villagers cowered around him at the presence they felt. A cold empty presence. He stopped in the middle of the street. He looked around him._

_A shadowed hand left the sleeve of his cloak. He curled his fingers and thumb to make, not a fist, but a flat surface. His blood red eye winked under the hood of his robes._

"_Shadow's Lust," he whispered. The shadows at his feet swirled faster around him. For a few moments nothing happened. Then he flicked his hand outwards, his flat hand pointed at a small crowd of digimon cowering under the shelter of a porch._

_Black lightning flashed from the skies devastating the home and all digimon nearby. Screams filled the air. Digimon ran from him. Some tried to attack but their assaults simply flowed over his cloak and dispersed._

"_Enough!" cried a strong, powerful voice._

_The figure looked up as the owner of the voice stepped up the dusty road towards him. A tall, blue jackal-like figure. His lower half was covered in white robes. Around his wrists were bands of golden metal, with similar wings sprouting from his back. Anubismon._

"_You shall pay for what you have done," he snarled, drawing his hands together, generating lines of power. A small glowing pyramid appeared in his hands, pulsing with red energy. "Pyramid Power!"_

_He thrust his hands forward, the pyramid expanding as it flew toward the dark figure. The pyramid expanded to full size and surrounded the figure. Anubismon smiled smugly, then looked on aghast as red light became black. The pyramid shattered._

_The figure's red eyes burned now. He lifted his hand._

"_Now. It's my turn…" _


End file.
